On May 2, 2009, the World Glaucoma Association (WGA) assembled a panel of experts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to participate in the 6th Annual Global Consensus Meeting on Ocular Blood Flow and Glaucoma. This meeting was designed to produce a series of statements (based on published data) that accurately define the role of ocular blood flow in glaucoma.
The agenda addressed several different aspects of ocular blood flow, including anatomy and physiology, the methods of obtaining clinical measurements, and the clinical relevance of these measurements (eg, the effects of general medications or specific glaucoma treatment). The last three sessions focused on whether clinicians should begin measuring blood flow in their practices and what they need to know about blood flow, and it provided a review of the statements proposed for each of the previous sections.
After listening to an introductory summary compiled by the co-leaders of each section, the participants were asked to review and amend a series of prepared statements defining the relationship between ocular blood flow and glaucoma. The lively debate was moderated by Robert Weinreb, MD, the WGA Consensus Initiative chair.
The results of the Global Consensus Meeting on Ocular Blood Flow and Glaucoma will be available on the WGA's Web site and published as a hardcover book by Kugler Publications (Amsterdam, the Netherlands). To date, the WGA has published statements on reconciling structure and function, open-angle glaucoma, angle-closure glaucoma, IOP, and glaucoma screening.
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TOP 5 ARTICLES FROM 2009
- Drug Delivery Systems in Ophthalmology
An update on products with potential for glaucoma therapy.
By Gary D. Novack, PhD
- Evaluating and Managing Optic Disc Cupping in Children
How to tell when a child has glaucoma.
By Allen Beck, MD
- Treating Glaucoma During Pregnancy
Preserving patients' vision is becoming increasingly important with advancing maternal age.
By Terri Pickering, MD
- Imaging Optic Nerve Head Drusen With Spectral Domain OCT
A new algorithm may help clinicians to determine the cause of visual field loss in patients with coexisting drusen and glaucoma.
By Huijuan Wu, MD, PhD; Johannes F. de Boer, PhD; and Teresa C. Chen, MD
- The Vascular Theory in Glaucoma
A focus on the endothelial cells.
By Barbara M. Wirostko, MD; Rita Ehrlich, MD; and Alon Harris, MS, PhD
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